Paranoid in Paradise
by diabeticgirl4
Summary: The flock receives a message from a stranger offering them to stay at his house, and they accept. While the flock is enjoying their new life, Max keeps growing more and more paranoid. Is Max just crazy, or is there a reason she should be worried?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: hi guys! This is my second Max Ride fanfic, enjoy! (and in case you don't know or haven't realized by now, my other fanfic, Bittersweet Blood is on hiatus. Sorry!)

Full summary: The flock receives a message from a stranger offering them to stay at his house, and while Max is suspicious, it turns out to be an amazing offer. While the flock is enjoying their new life, Max keeps growing more and more paranoid. Is Max just crazy, or is there a reason she should be worried?

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><p>"Checking up on your blog again?" I asked Fang. He was hunched over the laptop on the cheap motel bed, a concentrated expression set upon his face. While waiting for a response, I surveyed the room for the <em>n<em>th time that night. Iggy appeared to be napping on the cushioned chair in the corner of the room, Nudge and the Gasman were arguing over which of the five free channels they should watch, and Angel was giggling nonsense with Total underneath the bed. I checked again to make sure the door was locked and the curtains were drawn tight.

"Some dude messaged me…" Fang murmured softly. Instantly my mind began racing. I triple-checked the locks before sitting next to Fang to look at the laptop screen.

_Dear Fang and Flock, _

_ I've been following your blog for a while and I'm completely supportive of you. I know you've been though a lot, and I was thinking I could try to help out you guys. I live in a large house that certainly holds enough room for all of you to stay with me, if you want. My house is on a secret private island off the coast of Southern California near Oceanside, completely safe from outside harm. If you choose to live with me, however long it may be, I would guarantee you shelter and safety. You don't have to do anything in return, I'm doing this on my own to help you best I can. I'm not forcing you to accept my offer, but I would appreciate it if you thought it over. Whatever your choice, I wish you the best of luck._

_ Sincerely,_

_ J_

"It's a trap," I concluded. Have you heard of the phrase, "if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is"? That's exactly what I was thinking. I mean, _come on._ Living on a private, island unknown to the rest of the world, and no catch? Yeah right.

"What's a trap?" Angel asked, peeking out from underneath the bed skirt. Nudge and Gazzy had stopped arguing and had looked at me curiously, and Iggy stared attentively in my direction.

"Listen to this, guys," I told them, and I read the message out loud. "Isn't it a load of-"

"Awesome! A home?" exclaimed Gazzy. I exhaled. Not what I was going for.

"No, not a home! Think about it: some complete stranger is inviting us to his 'perfect island' and to come live a 'perfect life' with him," I said, using sarcasm and air quotes. "When's the last time someone told us something like that and didn't have something bad up their sleeves? And seriously, if he's such a regular nice guy, why couldn't he give us a real name? Don't tell me your 'suspicious-trap senses are fading."

Nudge grinned, and I scowled in return. Why couldn't they take me seriously?

"Max, not everyone is evil," Angel said. "Especially Fang's readers. Remember how they helped us in Germany? Plus it'd be nice to stay at a place longer than a day..."

"Yeah, Max. As much as I _love_ flying nonstop without a set destination in mind, and crashing at the local forest or, if we're lucky, the occasional motel at night, this dude's place might just be what we're looking for. We don't have to stay permanently, but even a week or two would be nice while we figure out what our next moves are."

I glared at Iggy. Was no one even considering my side? I turned to Fang. _He saw the message first; surely he sees the awaiting trap?_

Keeping his face smooth and expressionless, he looked at me and said, "Ig does have a point." I groaned and had the deep desire to bang my head against the wall.

"Max," Nudge started. _ Here we go,_ I thought. I didn't want to listen, not after they had already ganged up on me. "It could be okay. We can meet him in a super open place, like on a cliff or beach or something, so if it is a trap or something we could fly away and escape easily. But we could outnumber him if we had to fight, unless he brought like a ton of bad guys with him or something, which would be bad, but we're strong. Besides, in the message he sounded like he really wanted to help us. Plus, a private island! It would be so cool, it would be all to ourselves, and we'd have an awesome view and it'd be warm all the time and-"

"I get it, Nudge," I said, cutting her off. I evaluated the flock's faces with disapproval. Angel was wearing her Bambi eyes, Gazzy and Nudge were both fantasizing the "perfect place" we were going to, and Iggy tried to look indifferent, but I could see him pleading for a break. Fang simply stated at me, his face betraying zero emotion. As hard as I searched, I had no way of knowing whether he was supportive of the flock, or of me. He was forcing me to be the leader and make the decision alone for everyone. I hated that.

_Let's see, I could tell them 'no' and reassure their safety for now, but be the bad guy. Or, I could go with it and risk walking straight into a trap, but everyone would be happy doing so._

...And then I saw Angel's wide, adorable, pleading eyes…

I growled in defeat. "Fine," I said, and everyone cheered. Angel and Total high-fived, Gazzy fist-pumped in victory, Nudge squealed, "thankyouthankyouthankyouMax!", and Iggy looked at me gratefully. Fang's expression didn't change at all.

"Fang," I instructed, "tell the guy to meet us at the Oceanside pier at 8 o'clock in the morning, no later. Make sure he comes alone; we don't want surprises.

"Listen guys, it's a two-hour nonstop flight from where we are, so we're getting up with the sun. You all asked for it, so no whining. But for now: shower, then bed. Go on."

They all scattered, shoving each other back to get a turn in the shower first. I sighed and buried my face in my hands.

"I hope I made the right decision…"


	2. Chapter 2

"Up, up, up!" I yelled, and the room was filled with moaning and groaning, no one willing to wake up.

"Up!" I repeated louder, and then I turned on the lights. Groans increased, and whimpers were muffled by pillows. I rolled my eyes. "Get up guys, unless you want to miss the free breakfast buffet that just opened." And just like that, I was met with five bird kids and a talking dog, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. At least, to a certain extent.

We all rushed out the room and to the deserted main lobby, where a table of various breakfast foods awaited us. I avoided the stares from the secretaries as we proceeded to stuff our faces.

"Oh my gosh, you get to make your own waffles, Max! They have a cool machine for it and everything! And look, they have all these cereals in tiny boxes- Cocoa Puffs, Cheerios, Frosted Flakes, Raisin Bran- ew, who would want Raisin Bran? And apple juice, and orange juice," Nudge gasped, "and hot chocolate! Ooh, can I have some hot chocolate? It comes with tiny marshmallows!"

"Go ahead, Nudge," I said through a forkful of scrambled eggs. "Guys, try not to stuff yourselves too much. We gotta go soon, and remember, there are other people staying here. Don't eat all the food." Nobody had seemed to hear me. Gazzy was inhaling his third blueberry muffin, Angel was sharing her sausages with Total, and Fang was stuffing a bagel in his mouth. Iggy was grumbling something about the fact that he could cook way better food than this, but he seemed to be enjoying the free food otherwise. I had downed my third glass of orange juice, second waffle smothered in syrup, and a bowl of Cheerios when I could no longer stand the secretaries' burning glares. One of them turned to whisper something to another and then proceeded to pick up the phone to dial someone. Most likely someone who wouldn't be too happy with us.

"Alright guys, let's get this to go and get out of this place," I muttered. We all began stuffing muffins, bagels, apples, and cereal boxes into our backpacks. Glancing back at the frowning secretaries, I ushered everyone out the door before security could be called.

Thankfully the parking lot was deserted besides a few empty cars, so we made an easy escape. We were up…and away.

...

You know how sometimes two hours can fly by faster than a skydiving hawk, while other times it can drag by slower than a sleeping sloth? …Yeah, it was a long flight. The only reason we didn't shut Nudge up was because listening to her gave us something to do. Either we listened to her constant blabbing, or we flew in silence, lost in our own thoughts. Nudge just tended to amplify hers.

"Gosh, what do you think it's gonna be like? How big's the island, ya think? He said it was his own private island, private islands are normally pretty big, right? I wonder what's all on the island. Maybe he has his own private jet plane or something! That would be so cool! Do you think he'd let us ride in it if he did have one? Maybe we could race against it. I know you'd beat it with your super-fast flying and all, Max, unless jet planes can go faster? I wonder how fast jet planes can go. I bet he has a lot of awesome stuff, like a huge pool and cool stuff like that. He's got a private island, a huge house, and he could have a bunch of awesome stuff. I know I'm excited to see what it's going to be like, are you guys? Hopefully it'll be as great as it was staying with Anne. That was great, until she sent us to school and the erasers came and everything got ruined. You don't think he'd send us to school or anything? I sure hope not, those spelling tests were awful…"

I sighed, ignoring every word that poured out of her mouth. But when she mentioned Anne, I couldn't help narrowing my eyes. As nice as it was having a place to stay at and food to eat, Anne was just one bad memory standing out from a hundred other bad memories. She acted like a mother to us and she cared for us… or at least that's what we thought. When she revealed herself to be the "big bad boss", she, like Jeb had years back, had handed us false happiness and then smashed it into a billion tiny pieces right in front of our eyes.

_This "J" guy had better not do the same. There will be serious issues if he pulls anything like that…_

"It's the ocean!" Nudge suddenly yelled. Those three words suddenly brought everyone to an alert and excited state. Sure enough, right by the long, thin freeway and minuscule skyscrapers, laid the massive blue water. Finally, we were getting close.

We descended until we were low enough to read freeway signs, but still high enough not be noticed by the early morning drivers. "Oceanside airport…Coast Highway… We're here, gang!" I hollered. Cheers rang out behind me as we descended towards the sparkling beach.

We tumbled onto the sand then navigated ourselves towards the pier. We tucked in our wings, and even the younger three began to realize the seriousness of the upcoming situation. As we approached the pier, we put all feelings aside and prepared ourselves for anything. Namely, a trap or something dangerous.

A figure was waiting for us at the foot of the dock. I checked my watch, which read 7:58. The guy had punctuality, kudos to him. I crossed my arms and examined his appearance from a distance.

He was tall, but shorter than Fang and Iggy, slightly muscular, and looked maybe in his lower 20's. His sunglasses blocked his eyes, but his curious, yet innocent, expression was easy to read. His beach-blonde hair stood spiked, and he sported a bright blue shirt, khaki shorts, and plain sandals. On his right arm was a tattoo of the word "fly", in fancy writing. Hmm. _Seems like a regular beach guy, doesn't seem too particularly threatening…_ I thought. But I knew not to underestimate people. Underestimating people could kill you.

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><p><strong>Is anyone reading this? Now, I have the next chapter halfway written, so it's your choice if you want me to keep writing and updating. Seeing that nobody (besides Sierra Jade Faerie) has reviewed or shown any sign of caring about this story, I'll probably just stop writing and put it on hiatus. I have other stories I want to write anyways, so it doesn't bother me (too much). If you care at all, please PLEASE leave a review, add it to your favorites, whatever you want. Just let me know that SOMEONE out there is reading this. Because what's the point of updating if nobody's going to read it?<br>**


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